Back-to-back asteroids harmlessly fly past Earth - was the sixth closest asteroid approach -

Back-to-back asteroids harmlessly fly past Earth - was the sixth closest asteroid approach - 






A newly discovered small asteroid has harmlessly zipped close to Earth - just as scientists expected.


The 16-foot-long space rock, discovered on Memorial Day, passed by early Tuesday at a distance of 8,950 miles from the Earth's surface.


NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks such flybys, said the asteroid - dubbed 2012 KT42 - was the sixth closest asteroid approach.


It was the second asteroid encounter this week. On Monday, another asteroid, measuring 69 feet across, flew by at a distance of 32,000 miles.


Read more -
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_ASTEROID_FLYBYS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-29-19-21-18

Picture of the day - If You're Going to Have an Ejaculating Penis Tattoo, Choose Its Placement Wisely -

Picture of the day - If You're Going to Have an Ejaculating Penis Tattoo, Choose Its Placement Wisely -

Guitar Pee: Urinals Make Music - allowing guys to create unique solos while emptying their bladder -

Guitar Pee: Urinals Make Music - allowing guys to create unique solos while emptying their bladder - 




Musicians are made, not born. And in select Brazilian bars, a urinal called Guitar Pee makes sweet, sweet music of not-so-proverbial sh*t. The device, developed by Brazilian creative agency AlmapBBDO, produces a heavy metal symphony when bladder-heavy stumblers let loose their streams. 


“The Guitar Pee is a mix between menâs urinal and an electric guitar, allowing guys to create unique solos while emptying their bladder,” writes BestAdsOnTV.com. 


The agency outfitted the urinal with a guitar neck on top of the appliance. Instructions are written along the side of the wall next the handle. Above it sits a box–the sound-making device–to which an attached black cord runs along the side of the wall and connects with the base of the urinal. Inside the porcelain bowl, seven strings attached to circular devices project pre-recorded sounds depending on where the stream hits. Each stream is recorded and changed into an “MPee3,” which users can access by typing in the number generated by the box through a mobile app called  ”MPee3.”


Music magazine Billboard Brasil is the brand behind the Guitar Pee and in its promotional efforts makes this assertion: “Music. We know it comes for everywhere.”


Thus far, the best aspect of the Guitar Pee’s debut is the reactions of the patrons who actually get to use it (see video below). There’s the guy who doesn’t look up, but the camera captures the surprise of a man in an opposite urinal when clanging metallic riffs burst forth. There’s the guy who stares, zombie-like, unaffected. The smiler. The one who chooses not to pee in such a strange-looking contraption. And then there are the wanna-be rock-stars, who exit the urinal with fist pumps and rock-on symbols before tweeting out the Guitar Pee to their friends. 


According to BestAdsOnTV.com, Guitar Pee has recorded “1,500 unique guitar solos” and is constantly churning out more. There’s no real explanation as to the purpose of the device, but the Guitar Pee’s popularity is a brilliant marketing scheme. If only they made one for girls…

Read more -
http://www.bangstyle.com/2012/05/guitar-pee-urinals-music/

Hidden camera footage shows complicity in 'sex-selective' abortions by US providers... -

Hidden camera footage shows complicity in 'sex-selective' abortions by US providers... - 


Live Action says Planned Parenthood and other U.S. abortion providers are willing to assist in the termination of baby girls for pregnant women who choose abortion because they want to have baby boys. And the pro-life abortion watchdog says its video series and a new website will expose it all.


“This was a multi-state, national investigation demonstrating that this is a widespread problem across our country,” Live Action president Lila Rose told The Daily Caller in an interview Monday.


“First of all, the statistics and studies indicate that we are adding to the growing problem across the world of sex-selective targeting of unborn girls for abortion. We are going to be demonstrating — starting with this video from Texas — that the abortion industry in the United States is aiding and abetting this horrific problem.”


The first in what Live Action says is a series of videotaped incidents exposing American abortion facilities’  willingness to assist in sex-selection abortions took place at a South Austin, Texas Planned Parenthood clinic. In the footage, a Planned Parenthood counselor appears to readily assist and advise a Live Action actor who said she was trying to obtain an abortion if her baby is female.





Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/29/pro-life-groups-hidden-camera-footage-shows-complicity-in-sex-selective-abortions/

Australian mom says a Kangaroo stalked her for 2 days then attacked her -

Australian mom says a Kangaroo stalked her for 2 days then attacked her - 


An Australian mom has told of being "stalked" by a rogue kangaroo for two days before it savaged her, leaving her with a 12-inch scar.


Kirrily McWilliams was first confronted by the growling female eastern gray kangaroo in the backyard of her property south of Port Macquarie, in New South Wales -- and the next day it got through her fence and attacked her dog, a 143-pound mastiff.
Despite worried calls to National Parks and Wildlife Services for help, McWilliams was told to ignore the animal and it would go away, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph reported.
That afternoon she was walking down the driveway to pick her daughter up from the school bus when she saw the mad marsupial heading towards her at high speed. With nowhere to hide she dropped to the ground and curled up in a ball.
"If you stand and confront them they can easily tear you apart because that's what they do to each other," McWilliams said.
It pounded at her a number of times, clawing at her back with its powerful hind legs before bounding away. She sustained a large gash and other scratches on her back.
"It was lucky it was cool weather and I had two layers of clothing, otherwise it could have been worse," she said.
While she was at the hospital, her husband was attacked by the kangaroo in the backyard, but he kept it at bay with a shovel.
A day later, NPWS officials issued a permit to hire a shooter and kill the kangaroo -- but by that time it had moved on and attacked someone else.
There have been a number of cases of kangaroos lashing out.
NPWS said the powerful eastern grays, which can weigh up to 145 pounds and stand almost six feet, were considered dangerous and its policy was to educate people on avoiding conflict.




Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/29/australian-mom-says-kangaroo-stalked-her-for-2-days-then-attacked/?intcmp=trending

New smartphone in Japan to feature a radiation detector -

New smartphone in Japan to feature a radiation detector - 


Mobile phone operator Softbank Corp said on Tuesday it would soon begin selling smartphones with radiation detectors, tapping into concerns that atomic hotspots remain along Japan’s eastern coast more than a year after the Fukushima crisis.


Parts of northeastern Japan are still off-limits due to high radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear plant was devastated by a huge earthquuake and tsunami, triggering meltdowns and spewing radiation.


Anti-nuclear sentiment is high, with advocacy groups in Tokyo and other cities calling for radiation monitoring at schools and other public facilities.


“The threat from the nuclear accident cannot be seen by the human eye and continues to be a concern for many people, especially for mothers with small children,” said Softbank founder and president, Masayoshi Son, standing in front of an aerial photo of the crippled plant.


The smartphone in the company’s “Pantone” series will come in eight bright colours and include customized IC chips made by Sharp Corp that measure radiation levels in microsieverts per hour.


The phone, which goes on sale this summer, can also keep track of each location a user tests for radiation levels.


Son, who emerged as an outspoken critic of nuclear power and advocate of renewable energy sources after last year’s quake, told vendors and reporters that the smartphone was more portable and user-friendly than conventional Geiger counters.


Softbank, Japan’s No. 3 mobile phone operator, has not set a price on the new smartphone yet, but Son told reporters after the event that it would be in an affordable price range.


Read more - 
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1202126--new-smartphone-in-japan-features-built-in-radiation-detector?bn=1

Security backdoor found in China-made US military chip -

Security backdoor found in China-made US military chip - 




A microchip used by the US military and manufactured in China contains a secret “backdoor” that means it can be shut off or reprogrammed without the user knowing, according to researchers at Cambridge University’s Computing Laboratory.


UPDATE: However, one security consultancy has said that the implication that the backdoor might have been secretly inserted by the Chinese manufacturer is “bogus”, and that malicious intent is unlikely.


In a draft paper, Cambridge University researcher Sergei Skorobogatov wrote that the chip in question is widely used in military and industrial applications. The “backdoor” means it is “wide open to intellectual property theft, fraud and reverse engineering of the design to allow the introduction of a backdoor or Trojan”, they said.


The discovery was made during testing of a new technique to extract the encryption key from chips, developed by Cambridge spin-off Quo Vadis Labs. The “bug” is in the actual chip itself, Skorobogatov wrote, rather than the firmware installed on the devices that use it, meaning there is no way to fix it than to replace the chip altogether.


Read more -
http://www.information-age.com/channels/security-and-continuity/news/2105468/security-backdoor-found-in-chinamade-us-military-chip.thtml

Spanish bank Bankia Monday restated 2011 to reflect a 3.3 Billion euro loss, rather than a 41 Million euro profit -

Spanish bank Bankia Monday restated 2011 to reflect a 3.3 Billion euro loss, rather than a 41 Million euro profit - 






It is rather amazing what one finds when a company which previously had allegedly posted a profit of €41 million, somehow becomes insolvent, needs a nationalization to avoid a full out liquidation, and gets bailed out by the state. One of the first things one finds is that the profit pitched to that particular class of gullible idiots, known as shareholders, was an outright lie. And yes, on that one very rare occasion when an auditor refuses to sign off on a bank's financials, in this case Deloitte, run far, and run fast. Instead what one finds is a massive loss. From Reuters: "BFA, the parent group of nationalized Spanish bank Bankia said on Monday it had restated its 2011 results to reflect a 3.3 billion euro loss, rather than a 41 million euro profit, following a bailout from the state. In a statement to the stock exchange regulator, BFA said the restated loss reflected a review of its loan portfolios and capital needs after a new audit and as part of the clean-up plan implemented by the government." Well, duh, something "new" better be reflected, or else the general public may just get the impression that banks are merely pulling numbers out of their glutes, that the entire balance sheet, income and cash flow statements are just a jumble of utter BS, and that keeping one's deposits in a system predicated on lies and fraud may not be the smartest thing. But no: that would imply one is inciting a bank run, and that is frowned upon by the very same government which does everything in its power to facilitate just the data manipulation that magically results in a profitable bank being on the verge of liquidation.


But that's not all. According to Spain's Expansion, the total loss could be far worse, more than double the just reported, to a total of €7 billion. Google translated:


Following a meeting of more than four hours, the board of directors of the entity on Monday approved the restated financial statements. Bankia matrix provided only consolidated data for the year 2011, yielding a loss of 3.318 million euros. However, individual losses would amount to 7,000 million BFA, according to financial sources.

The consolidated balance sheet losses gave the fruit of Bankia own numbers, which on Friday announced that it obtained a negative result of 2.979 million in 2011. In previous accounts, unaudited, BFA had lost 439 million in individual accounts, while recognized in consolidated profit of 41 million.

The red numbers are mainly due to the development of fair value of the share itself has BFA Bankia (52% in December 2011).
Indicatively, the move from a profit to a €7 billion loss, in a US context, is roughly the same as if US bank holding company X were to go from being profitable to posting a nearly $100 billion loss. Overnight. But only after the FDIC was invited to backstop the firm's suddenly underwater hundreds of billions in deposits.


Oops.


Luckily, there is always only one cockroach (ahem JP Morgan prop desk), and we are absolutely confident the €7 billion total loss, when officially announced will be the final one. Just as the final bailout bill of €19 billion will not be topped. Or was that €25 billion?


And nobody will need a European bailout. Ever.


Read more -
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bankia-parent-revises-2011-profit-%E2%82%AC41-million-%E2%82%AC33-billion-loss

Radiation from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima power plant have turned up in bluefin tuna off the California coast -

Radiation from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima power plant have turned up in bluefin tuna off the California coast - 




Low levels of nuclear radiation from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima power plant have turned up in bluefin tuna off the California coast, suggesting that these fish carried radioactive compounds across the Pacific Ocean faster than wind or water can.


Small amounts of cesium-137 and cesium-134 were detected in 15 tuna caught near San Diego in August 2011, about four months after these chemicals were released into the water off Japan's east coast, scientists reported on Monday.


That is months earlier than wind and water currents brought debris from the plant to waters off Alaska and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.


The amount of radioactive cesium in the fish is not thought to be damaging to people if consumed, the researchers said in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Without making a definitive judgment on the safety of the fish, lead author Daniel Madigan of Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station noted that the amount of radioactive material detected was far less than the Japanese safety limit.


"I wouldn't tell anyone what's safe to eat or what's not safe to eat," Madigan said in a telephone interview. "It's become clear that some people feel that any amount of radioactivity, in their minds, is bad and they'd like to avoid it. But compared to what's there naturally ... and what's established as safety limits, it's not a large amount at all."


He said the scientists found elevated levels of two radioactive isotopes of the element cesium: cesium 137, which was present in the eastern Pacific before the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in the spring of 2011; and cesium 134, which is produced only by human activities and was not present before the earthquake and tsunami hit the Japanese plant.


Because cesium 134 is generated only by human activities - nuclear power plants and weapons - and there was none in the Pacific for several years before the Fukushima accident, they reckoned that any cesium 134 they found in tuna off California had to come from Fukushima.


Read more -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/28/us-japan-nuclear-tuna-idUSBRE84R0MF20120528

Beer-stealing COWS crash backyard bash -

Beer-stealing COWS crash backyard bash - 




Some rowdy young party crashers are making headlines today for stealing all of the beer at a backyard bash.


Police in Boxford, Mass. say that a group of young adults were enjoying an outdoor college reunion party Sunday evening when six cows showed up and hurtled toward their beverages.


"They went right for the beer and then when one was done, they'd knock another one over and take care of that beer," Lt. James Riter of the Boxford Police Department told a local newspaper. "I saw one cow drinking the beer on its way down as it spilled off the table... Some of the cows were also picking through the empties in the recycling bin... They just went in and helped themselves."


According to Wicked Local, the bovine beer-lovers frightened human party-goers indoors. One person from the party, as well as a neighbour called 911.


Riter said he witnessed 10-13  women jumping on the rear deck of the house to avoid contact with the cows when he arrived. "The young women were absolutely in shock," he told a reporter.


The cows' owner eventually showed up to help herd them back to his field - but not before police could snap a few photos. 





Read more -
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/05/beer-stealing-cows-crash-backyard-bash.html